Ahmet Kaya

Ahmet Kaya worked for a while as a taxi driver in Istanbul before becoming well-known as a singer in the mid-1980s. During his career he recorded about 20 albums and was known for his protest music and positions on social justice. All of his works were in Turkish.

At a 1999 televised annual music awards ceremony, MED TV, at which he was to be named Musician of the Year, he spoke out about his 'Kurdish' background and said that he wanted to produce music in his native Kurdish. He announced that he had recorded a song in Kurdish (Kerwan, released on the HoÅŸÃ§akalÄ±n GÃ¶zÃ¼m album in 2001) and intended to produce a video to accompany it. At this event he was attacked by some Turkish singers. However, some of the same singers were among the first people to make Kurdish albums when the government gave in to pressure from Europe to allow Kurds speak their own language in 2002.